The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (9 page)

“
You were hungry, boy,”
she soothed with a silky tone. “I’m sorry we forgot to feed you
yesterday.”

Unwavering, Mr. Patas
chuffed on, devouring his tasty, if not belated meal, completely
ignoring her. He hadn’t even bothered to gaze at her from the
corner of his eye, as he was often apt to do.

Meanwhile, Mikalah
inspected the level of his water and found, while he still had
some, its level was in fact low. She quickly closed the cage door
and made her way to the side of the house where the outdoor sink
stood inside the walled and covered shelter. It enclosed the
washer, dryer, and a small industrial sink, abutting the outer wall
of the house. Grabbing the plastic cup sitting atop one of the rear
shelves above the sink, Mikalah filled the vessel with water,
turned off the valve and then made her way back to the cage water
sloshing upon her wrist as she walked.

“
Do you want a cool drink,
Mr. Patas, you cutie-pie?” inquired the girl, knowing the rabbit
liked the sound of her voice, even if he didn’t understand
her.

As if in reply, Mr. Patas
pulled his head up from the feeding trough, looked at Mikalah from
the corner of his eye, one ear pointed in her direction, sniffing a
few times before he returned to his meal.

Mikalah poured the water
into the rabbit’s drinking dish, but frowned when she saw debris
floating and swirling upon the surface. With her index finger, she
fished out a few strands of grass, and, with a deepening of her
expression, a soggy rabbit turd.

“
Yuck, dude, you took a
dump in your water,” responded Mikalah disgusted. Shaking her head,
she ran back to the sink, re-filled the cup with more water. When
she returned, she proceeded to pour all of it into the dish, so
much of it overflowed, falling onto the grass below and almost all
of the yucky mess with it.

Hopefully the good water
would flush out the bad water. Maybe it would pour onto the ground,
so Mr. Patas won’t have to drink his “dump-water
,” she thought a somewhat satisfied. Since, she wasn’t strong
enough to unscrew the dish from the side of the cage and dump out
its contents, there wasn’t much else she could do for the dumb
animal. She could only hope for the best.

“
All done,” she muttered
to herself. “Now, I better start my homework before Dad gets
mad.”

She picked up both the
water and feed cups and began making her way back to the sink for
the third time when she thought she heard someone call out to her
from the opposite side of the yard.

“
What?” she called, though
mostly to herself. As far as she knew, she’d been alone. She turned
around to see if she could discern what had made such a plaintive
noise. She made a complete turn, peering all about the yard, her
ears straining… nothing. With a shrug of her shoulders, she bounded
off toward the sink, placed the cup upon the same shelf as before
and began to make her way back to the sliding doors beneath the
covered patio.

It came again… what was
it…?

“…
Hello…?”

Mikalah stopped in her
tracks, looking around. “Who’s there?” was her confused question.
Again, she tried to extend the range of her hearing, head canted
slightly forward with the effort. She could hear Mr. Patas running
about his cage, a few birds chirping at one another somewhere off
in the distance, feel a slight breeze caress her cheeks as it blew
softly across the back yard… beyond that, nothing.

She walked underneath the
covered-patio, passing the duel sliding doors leading back into the
house, standing beside the massive outdoor BBQ station her Dad had
installed on the opposite end of the patio. Her eyes kept up the
vigil in a vain attempt to find this pleading source of
sound.

“
Is
anyone out here?” ventured Mikalah again, gazing across the rest of
the yard in front her, seeing the long path of stepping-stones,
extending along the entire length of the back of the house. She
looked, slightly to the left, over toward the combination tree
house/apparatus/sand box her father had built for them a few years
back. She went so far as to examine the very verges of the
remaining property beyond their outdoor play area. Her eyes
searched the tall, wide pine tree growing in the far corner of the
yard and the fence beyond. She didn’t see anything out of the
ordinary.
Crud, what the heck is wrong
with me,
thought Mikalah a little
disgusted with herself for “hearing strange noises”.
I’m turning into a real Looney
Toon.

She turned around to
leave.

“
Bye, Mr.
Patas!”

“
Where are you
going?”

She definitely heard it
this time. It was directly behind her. “Huh?” she began as she
turned back around, eyes focusing on the fence, at the far edge of
the back yard.

“
Where are you going?” the
question came a second time, allowing Mikalah’s ears to coordinate
with her eyes, directing them toward the origin of the
sound.

Then, she saw him and,
involuntarily gasped, taking a half step back. Sitting atop the
backyard fence was what looked to be a four or five-year-old child
completely wrapped, from head to toe, in a long flowing, black
robe. The garment had a hood and low cowl, covering his face in a
shadow Mikalah’s eyes couldn’t penetrate at a distance.

“
What…W-what…?” was all
Mikalah could muster. She was too surprised and shocked. Her vocal
cords seemed to have tied themselves in a knot. She couldn’t make a
recognizable sound.

“
I found something and was
going to give it to you, yet… you were making as if to leave. Where
are you going that is so important at this very moment?” asked the
child-like figure atop the fence. Only its voice didn’t sound
child-like at all. Rather, it sounded like sandpaper, slowly
scraped over course wood. It grated against the drums in Mikalah’s
ears. It issued forth, strained and grizzly.

“
I-I…I was going to do my
h-homework,” answered Mikalah unable to keep the quiver from her
voice, gulping.

“
Do you not wish to see
what I found? What I have for you?” rasped the small figure. Its
feet crossed and un-crossed, as if it were trying to conceal some
great urgency, some sort of internal energy it couldn’t
shake.

It made the girl nervous,
even though she watched from some distance away. The small boy
seemed overflowing with excitement, so much so, it looked like he
was about to burst from within.

“
I
d-don’t want to get into trouble by my Dad,” stated Mikalah, taking
another uncontrolled step backward. About her, the wind abruptly
swirled her hair, an unexpected squall, strong, persistent.
Was it getting colder?
Mikalah asked herself. Or, was she merely chilled from the
inside instead.

“
Come, child, and see the
nature of the goody I have for you,” urged the hooded…

Was it a man? But, he’s so
small.

Mikalah stopped her
retreat, uneasy but wondering, “What it is?”

There was a slight
chuckling sound emanating from the figure, and then, “You have to
come here to witness this gift.” The figure reached into what
appeared to be a fold in its robe and drew forth something too
small to see. It was within the clutch of its’ hand.

Without thinking, Mikalah
took a few steps forward.
“I can’t stay
for long,” she offered, trying to push down the growing sense that
something wasn’t right.

“
It will not be long. I
promise, little one.”

Mikalah frowned,
thinking,
little one, I am like a foot
taller than you are!
She took a few more
steps forward. Again, the wind blew; a similar gust, only this time
Mikalah knew, in her heart, it was colder than a moment
before.

“
Goooood, come closer…
juuust a bit more,” compelled the small man.

It was a man, right? It’s
treating me like I’m much younger than him, so it must be a man – a
short man. Maybe he’s a little person
,
rationalized the young girl as her feet took her yet a few more
steps closer.

A small squeak from behind
her made her stop on the balls of her feet. She heard a metallic
sort of shaking.

She glanced over her
shoulder. She saw Mr. Patas staring straight at her, no longer
interested in his food. She had only the time to take a single
breath when Mr. Patas abruptly grabbed one of the crossing wires of
his cage within the grasp of his four massive front teeth and
tugged violently at the cage, shaking the conglomerated structure
to its very foundations.
What is wrong
with Mr. - ?

The hooded figure
interrupted her thoughts. “Just a few more steps and you shall see
what I have found for you.”

“
Huh?” Mikalah asked, not
sure to whom she was voicing her inquiry, confusion and indecision
plaguing her young mind.

“
Come,
child. Come.
Come.
COME,
” went on the pleading, imploring in
its’ raspy voice.

Through the plague of
doubt and worry, Mikalah began to walk toward the seated man. The
wind came again. It was a long, steady, hurling of air, fluttering,
flapping, and pushing at Mikalah.

It was cold!
Too cold, what was happening…?

The figure’s head rose
slightly as she approached the little, robed figure. She took the
last few steps and for the first time, Mikalah could see the face
of her unexpected visitor. The view shocked the young girl to her
core.

His skin was dark and
leathery, but so wrinkled and so very dry looking, Mikalah was sure
it would peel off at any second in the ever-increasing wind. He had
a long, pointed nose above wide lips that appeared so drained of
blood, so cracked and lifeless, it was amazing they could still
move without splintering and falling to the ground.

The man in the hood smile
broadly. His eyes widened as the draw of his smile increased. His
irises were so pale, they looked almost white. Not an albino’s eyes
that would’ve shown pink with blood, because they lacked all
pigment. No, these were entirely white. It was a snowy
color.
His gaze pierced
Mikalah. It was so rare a sight. It was unnerving.

She felt as though this
creature could look right through her and read her mind. Maybe even
watch, with rapture-like fascination, the very beating of her
heart.

His lips peeled back as he
continued to smile. His teeth were pointed, sharpened and stained
with splotches of red, as if he’d been eating pomegranates for
years without ever brushing them. Before him, he held out his hand,
fist closed over what he said was a
gift
for Mikalah.

Barely able to tear her
gaze from the appalling appearance of his face, the girl glanced
down at the offered hand, eyelids withdrawing over the orbs of her
eyes. She saw the last of his gnarled arm from beneath the end of
his robe. It was equally knobby and callused, his hand ending with
long, sinewy fingers that sprouted overlong nails, chipped and
broken. They looked as though he’d spending the entire day digging
through dirt and mud.

Mikalah reached out, while
the creature extended his gruesome hand. “Good, and now for your
g-,” began the creature, but didn’t finish.

“
Mikalah, where are you? You’ve got other things to do than
messing around with that damned rabbit!”

It was her father calling
after her from inside the house!

Oh, man!
Her mind exploded at her.
I’m really going to get it now!

Abruptly, she turned
toward the house and away from the creature. “I’m coming!” she
yelled in response. “Mr. Patas needed food and water!”

“
Okay, but you’d better
move your behind, little girl. No snacks until you’ve finished your
homework.” This was her father’s usual reply to any explanation
given by her and her siblings. He always was took any delay on
their part for an excuse and punished them regardless of what the
circumstances might’ve been.

“
I’ve gotta go,” said the
girl turning back toward the creature on the wall, surprised to
find it was no longer there.

“
Where did he go?” she
asked herself out loud, peering around until her eyes fell to
something lying on the ground, right between her feet. It was as
though the creature had merely opened his hand, let it fall, and
then left.

Mikalah gasped at the
sight.

It was her
gift
.

There, at her feet, was
the twisted and broken form of newborn kitten. Its neck was twisted
around and around like a piece of liquorish, its’ tiny paws were
chewed off, its’ tail had been ripped from its’ body, leaving a
bloody stump upon its’ hind-quarters.

“
Oh my God!” exclaimed
Mikalah, bringing her hands to her mouth, retching. “I would’ve
touched it!”

Around her, the wind blew
again, cold, though the sky was clear and still very
blue.